The use of bows and arrows for hunting game dates back hundreds of years to a time when the bow and arrow was the only effective way of killing game for food. While the basic technique of bow and arrow hunting employed with modern equipment is still the same as early primitive equipment, the modern hunting bow is a far cry from the simple instruments used by the Indians and hunters of medieval and pre-medieval times. Similarly, modern arrows are precision made with shafts which are straight within very close tolerances. Various types of heads and feathers (or Fletchings) then are attached to the shaft to form a balanced entity.
While substantial improvements have been made in the structure of bows and arrows over the years, relatively little progress has been made in the quiver or carrying case used for the arrows. Early quivers simply were open-ended, elongated bags carried on the back or the side of the hunter into which a number of arrows were placed head down. Such quivers, however, do not effectively separate the arrows and make it extremely difficult to stalk game since the arrow shafts may rattle against one another, making noise, which in turn frightens the game. In addition, if such a quiver is used with a modern hunting arrow, the heads of the arrows may become entangled with one another so that an attempt to withdraw an arrow may result in snagging one or more other arrows located in the quiver, spilling them out on the ground when the desired arrow is withdrawn. Once again, the resulting confusion and clatter of the falling arrows very likely will frighten away the game which is being stalked. In addition, the extremely sharp edges of modern hunting arrow heads could result in injury to a person using such arrows with such a quiver if they should become entangled in this manner.
Various solutions have been proposed for spacing or separating hunting arrows in quiver arrangements of different types. Some such arrangements include an attachment placed on the side of the bow and including spaced apart resilient fingers for grasping the shafts of arrows held in place on the bow. This arrangement, however, creates additional weight and imbalance to the bow; and location of the arrows makes a smooth withdrawal of an arrow from the holder and placement of it onto the bow string extremely difficult.
Another type of back-mounted quiver presently available utilizes a spring biased clamping arrangement to press downwardly on the nocks of the arrows to clamp them between a fixed abutment at the head end and the spring loaded abutment at the nock end. Such a quiver, however, is capable of holding only arrows of exactly the same length at any given time and also is difficult to use in the rapid and smooth removal of a single arrow.
A different type of quiver is worn on the side of the hunter and has a pocket or pouch for receiving the arrow heads. Resilient fingers or spacers are located above the pouch for engaging the shafts of the arrows carried in the quiver. This arrangement, however, is cumbersome and again is difficult to use in quickly withdrawing an arrow from the quiver and placing it in position on the bow for use.
It is desirable to provide an arrow quiver for use by hunters which is worn on the back, which is not susceptible to spillage of the arrows when the hunter bends over, which places the arrows in a convenient position for withdrawal and use by the hunter and which further is capable of accomodating and intermixing arrows of different lengths without any modification or adjustments.